“This is just the start as our goal is to get to 75 days, freeing up cash for our capital deployment priorities”

In context

“. And we're doing this by standardizing the demand planning process, using new algorithms to improve forecast accuracy, improving supplier delivery performance, and driving consistency and reliability in logistics. These are key elements of our broader operational excellence program which continues to mature but is still in the early innings. Our goal remains to deliver 2% net productivity through sourcing efficiency, quality improvement, lean manufacturing and asset utilization, which I described last time as Operating Equipment Efficiency or OEE. These efforts are starting to take hold and will support further gross margin expansion toward our goal of high 40s. We also made progress on inventory days, which was down 2 days versus last year and 8 sequentially, ending the year at 94 days. This is just the start as our goal is to get to 75 days, freeing up cash for our capital deployment priorities, which include returning cash to shareholders. Last year, we returned $3.8 billion to shareholders, $2 billion in dividends, and $1.8 billion in share repurchases. Lastly, we continue to assess our portfolio, and we have several small actions underway. We'll update you on progress as deals are signed. Moving to guidance on Slide 5. Our strong finish in the fourth quarter gives us confidence in our ability to deliver in 2025. For the year, we expect organic sales growth in the range of 2% to 3%, adjusted earnings per share in the range of $7.60 to $7.90, and free cash flow conversion of approximately 100%. Our back-to-basics approach and focus on our three top priorities underpins our ability to deliver on these commitments as the macro recovery continues to be uneven. Currently, IPI is fo”